Eating to Protect Our Ecosystems I am Caryn Hartglass, Executive Director of EarthSave International. John Robbins founded EarthSave International in 1989 in response to the tremendous outpouring of love he received from millions of people who read "Diet for a New America‖. Since then, the members and leadership of EarthSave have carried forward John's vision. Reaching out to each other and to our communities, we have built an international grassroots movement on the conviction that by making wise lifestyle and dietary choices, we can improve our health and the health of our world. With many local chapters in the United States and our affiliate in Canada, we've introduced hundreds of thousands of people to the benefits of a plant-based diet. EarthSave is about finding creative, friendly and fun ways to inspire people to think about what they eat, and to shift toward plantbased eating. We seek to reach people who haven't necessarily thought much about diet. Our mission is to provide clear, calm, reliable facts and information so people can consider and reach conclusions about the food they eat, and think about what impact their dietary choices have on their health and the health of the entire planet. Our message is to encourage people to "shift toward" plant-based eating, and there are a wide variety of benefits and positive reasons for doing so. It’s a great privilege for me to have the opportunity to serve the planet in this way. Hildegund Sholvien (our fabulous conference organizer) first asked me to speak at this conference 4 years ago when we were at the IVU congress in Brazil. I reconfirmed to her at the IVU congress in India two years later. A lot has happened to me since then and as a result has changed the tone and outcome of this presentation, hopefully, for the better. Back in September 2006, I was anemic, with a belly full of cancer and uncomfortable, taking aspirins. I didn't know I had cancer at that time. I thought I had fast growing uterine fibroids. I lied down on the couch and turned on the TV and there was a program on Gustav Klimt, my favorite artist. They were discussing how his painting, the Adele Bloch-Bauer I, just sold for $135,000,000. It was on display at the Neue Gallery in Manhattan. It was not one of my preferred pieces but I felt an obsession to see it. I was going on a 2 week trip to India, for the last IVU congress actually and didn't have much time. I ran to the gallery the day I was flying. I had about 15 minutes inside. I saw the painting and it brought me to profound tears. I could not explain it. The painting is incredible but I could not understand my feelings. That night I flew to India. One of the films on the flight was Ocean's 12. I had seen it and was barely watching it. Toward the end, the actor Andy Garcia was sitting at his desk in the casino and you could see the bottom portion of the Adele Bloch-Bauer hanging behind him. I couldn't believe it. Why was I drawn to this painting? When I got back from India I had my surgery and discovered I had ovarian cancer. I was traumatized. I tried to remember if I had had any dreams or visions that had given me clues of the disease in the past. I thought of the painting but couldn't figure anything out. I spoke with John Robbins, my friend and founder of EarthSave, the organization I work for. He asked me if I had been dreaming. I told him I hadn't been because I had not been
1
sleeping well for a long time. Several nights later I had a dream with John in it. There were lots of aspects to the dream but the important part for this story is that I saw a very tall, slim woman holding my 1 year old niece. She was so tall we couldn't see the baby. On October 24, 2006, three days after the dream, I went to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the famous cancer hospital in New York, for a consultation with one of their top GYN/Oncologist. I was in the waiting room with my mother and saw a woman who looked like the tall one in my dream. I told my mom about her and got up to take a closer look. She had a purse with the Adele Bloch-Bauer pattern on it! It blew my mind but I didn't know what it meant. And I forgot about it for some time. John Robbins led me to the Block Center in Evanston, IL for chemo. It's a wonderful place and almost makes having chemotherapy pleasurable. I call it the Club Med of chemotherapy. Unfortunately I had a small residual mass that was not removed by the chemo. The doctor who did the first surgery performed the second in March 2007 but he couldn't find anything. He said it was possible to have a false positive from a PET scan. I wanted to believe I was cancer free but for the next three months I did not feel well. I had another scan in June 2007 and the mass was still there and larger. I went searching for a surgeon that I felt I could trust with my life. A friend of mine recommended Dr. Joel Bauer because she had a friend that had had cancer in a similar location and liked him very much. When I met with him I knew he was the one for the job. I had met with other surgeons who did not think I could be cured and that they could only buy me time. Dr. Bauer on the other hand was confident that he and his team could make me well. He was the doctor I was looking for. I had my third surgery at Mt. Sinai on Friday, July 13, 2007 and it was a success. The surgery lasted about two hours and the tumor mass was removed. My sister flew in from Florida to be with me during the surgery and stayed at my parents' home. Sunday morning she woke up at 5am and had an epiphany. She knew the meaning of the painting. As I mentioned above, I went for chemo at the Block Center, founded by Dr. Keith Block. The surgeon, who found the mass that the original surgeon missed, was Dr. Joel Bauer. Dr. Block and Dr. Bauer: Block-Bauer. The painting was telling me the doctors I needed to use. It confirmed that I made the right choice. I think seeing the dream woman while at Memorial Sloan-Kettering was also telling me that Memorial Sloan-Kettering was NOT the place to go for treatment. I did not like the doctor there and the feeling of that place. I told the story to both doctors and they liked it. Dr. Block added that his name originally was "Bloch" with an "h" like in the painting and not as it is now with a "k". I went through another round of chemo from September 2007 and finished on December 26, 2007. I am enjoying getting back to all the things I love to do, which includes travel. I flew to Florida in January 2008 to visit with family and then to continue on to Costa Rica where I have some property. On the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Costa Rica I was intently reading a book. All of a sudden I wondered what film might be playing and chuckled to myself that it might be Ocean's 12. I knew it couldn't be because the movie
2
was too old. I looked up and it was the sequel, Ocean's 13! Just a few seconds later I saw the scene with Andy Garcia in his office at the casino. Only this time there was another Klimt painting there, the Fritza Riedler. To me, the patterns of the Egyptian eyes in the dress of the Adele Bloch-Bauer I resembled the patterns and colors of my PET scan. Fritza Riedler is wearing a pure white dress in her portrait, symbolic for me as being well again. I passed my 1 year cancer free anniversary two weeks ago. Why did I want to share this story with you? There are a number of reasons. One is that, I am more committed than ever to a healthy plant based-diet. I am convinced that although my diet did not prevent my disease, it sustained me through three major surgeries and 8 months of chemotherapy. I never got weak or sick. In fact I was able to star in a musical in California while under going treatments. I have a large fresh green juice everyday, and eat as much leafy green food as possible, in salads, steamed or in a soup. I’d be happy to talk more about my diet to anyone who would like more information. Although I will never know why I became ill I believe it is because I was exposed to toxins. As a chemical engineer for 20 years I came in contact with many carcinogenic substances. But I really believe it was the exposure starting as a teenager to tampons. As you many know, the brand name tampons are bleached and contain harmful dioxin. I didn’t know this when I was young. I stopped using them when I was about 30 but I believe it was too late. Lastly, I know now that we are all connected in a powerful way. My experience with the Klimt painting has made that clear. We need to pay attention to the beauty and the good in this world. We need to look beyond the troubling parts. Rather than drowning in the miseries I believe we need to rise above. Mahatma Gandhi said ―You must be the change you want to see in the world. There is a movie and a book that’s been going around for several years and getting a lot of attention. It’s called The Secret. I am sure many of you have heard about it or seen the DVD or read the book. For those of you not familiar with the Secret, basically it’s about what they call the ―law of attraction‖. While I thought the movie focused far too much on how one can obtain material wealth rather than on spiritual wellbeing, I do believe there are some important concepts from the piece. My favorite example in the movie was when they talked about those who are against war and want peace. By focusing on war, with anti war rallies and the like, we attract more war. This is how the ―law of attraction‖ is supposed to work. Whereas if we focus on peace, with a peace rally and other peace related activities, we attract peace. The difference is subtle but the end results are powerfully unique. I compare it to animal agriculture. By focusing on the horrors that are occurring, according to the concept of the ―law of attraction‖ we are attracting more animal agriculture, not ridding ourselves of it. Therefore, I prefer to focus on all the positive things that are happening in the world for peace and freedom for all species in order to attract more of it.
3
It’s very clear to me that what we allow into our bodies can create wellness or illness. This includes the food we eat, the personal products we use, the clothes we wear, the air we breathe, the water we drink, etc. And the same is true for what we allow to be released into our precious environment. I am going to go through a long list of frightening statistics of the state of the planet. However, I will not end there. I hope that this talk will be inspirational and leave you empowered to make powerful change. The state of the planet is probably most affected by one thing today – humans. As of July 1, 2008, the world's population is believed to be approximately 6,707,035,000. That’s a lot of bodies that are consuming food and what are believed to be, limited resources. Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org) puts out excellent reports and I will be sharing a bit of information with you from their Global Warming report. About 60 billion animals are used throughout the world annually to produce meat, milk and eggs. At the rate we are going, this figure could double by 2050. It is simply not sustainable and will have to change. Many of you by now have heard about the UN Food and Agricultural report in Nov. 2006 that said that animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions from all human activities, based on the CO2 equivalent. Surprising to many people is that this number is greater than that for transport which is only 14%. Most of the emissions consist of nitrous oxide and methane gas from animal manure, methane gas from animals’ digestion and nitrous oxide from the fertilizer use to grow farm animal feed crops. In addition to global warming, animal agriculture is responsible for a wide range of devastation to the planet, including air, soil and water pollution (largely from fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides), water scarcity, reduction in biodiversity, deforestation, acid rain and destruction of the ozone layer. As we continue to try and feed the 6.7 billion people and growing, it’s hard to believe that livestock production for meat, milk and eggs uses up a large share of the world’s resources. The numbers are staggering: 1/3 of the world’s arable land is used to grow food for animals; one half of the Earth’s land-mass is used as pasture for cattle and other livestock; livestock feed uses 90% of the world’s soy beans, 60% of the corn and barley. There are over 1 billion cattle alive on earth today. The weight of the world’s cattle compared to the weight of the world’s people is nearly double. In the United States, where I come from, only 2 percent of the corn crop produced is eaten by people. As compared to 77 percent eaten by livestock is. Around 4 million United States acres are used to produce vegetables for humans versus the 56 million acres used to produce hay to feed livestock.
4
The number of human beings that could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock is 1 billion, four-hundred million — roughly the population of the People’s Republic of China. Theses plant foods, if fed directly to people, rather than to feed animals to feed people would provide much more food for the current and every growing human population. Deforestation is intricately linked to animal agriculture. In South America 70% of forested land is now used for livestock grazing or to grow soy beans or other cereals. Forests have a huge impact on the environment. The trees help in balancing the oxygencarbon dioxide balance of the earth, by absorbing carbon dioxide from the environment and releasing oxygen. Forests regulate temperature of the Earth and rainfall, and thus prevent droughts. The trees impede the velocity of runoff on the soil surface. This thwarts soil erosion and landslides, thereby reducing possibilities of floods. The leaves that fall on the forest ground act as nutrient sources that increase soil fertility. The forests also offer shelter against adverse environmental conditions to diverse forms of wildlife. Moreover, forests are significant not just ecologically but economically as well. Firewood, commercial timbre, gums, medicines, and other products of industrial use are obtained from forests. Indiscriminate felling of trees for converting forest-lands into agricultural fields, for industrialization or mining, and overgrazing by domestic animals are all contributing to the loss of this exhaustible natural resource. The lush green rainforests used to cover 14% of the surface of the Earth. Now this value has dwindled to only about 6%. It is anticipated that the remaining rainforests could disappear within the next fifty years. The consequence is loss of biodiversity. Many species of plants and animals are already extinct. Others are also fading away, due to loss of habitat. Apart from the loss of genetic resources, this also entails loss of essential medicinal herbs and even several aboriginal tribes. Other major impacts include soil erosion, flooding, and desertization. Increased deforestation significantly contributes to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbon. Animal agriculture is extremely inefficient and wasteful. Severe water shortages are predicted all over the world in the next 20 years. 87% of fresh water consumed worldwide is used for agriculture. Consider that it takes about 2500 gallons to produce 1 lb of beef or 20820 liters of water to make 1 kg. The equivalent weight in plant foods takes about two orders of magnitude less: about 25 gallons for a pound of lettuce tomatoes, potatoes or wheat (95 liters for 1 kg), 49 gallons for a pound of apples (185 liters for 1 kg). As every drop of water becomes more and more precious (and expensive) wasting water to feed animals to feed people will not be possible.
5
What about fossil fuels? Everyone is impacted by the high prices that continue to climb. We are not only hit at the gas pump for our daily travel but the prices of anything we buy that is not local and has a shipping cost is affected. The United States consumes far more energy than any other country -- more than China and Russia put together. Just five percent of the world's population consumes 23% of its energy! We all need to look at our lifestyles and see where we can conserve on energy use especially in the US. But where is a lot of this precious resource going? You guessed it – animal agriculture. Feed production accounts for 70% of total fossil fuel use in animal farming. Then there are the petroleum based chemical fertilizers and pesticides, whose use has only been increasing since 1950. More than half of the global corn crop is used for animal feed and corn uses more nitrogen fertilizer than any other crop. Just for fun I did a very quick calculation to find out how much cattle could be grown if all were grazing rather than confined in a factory. Using the estimate of 7,680,000,000 acres of arable land available on earth, and the modest estimate of 11 acres of grazing land per cow, the result comes to under 700 million cows. That doesn’t leave any room for growing food for people or other animals or anything else. There are currently a billion cattle on the earth so even if we wanted to we couldn’t afford to sustain current consumption of beef if we were to eliminate factory farms. Something has to give. Then there’s the waste. Great volumes of localized, concentrated animal waste may exceed the soil’s ability to absorb the nutrients and neutralize pathogens. Fertilizer should be a valuable byproduct of animal agriculture but it is a waste that must be disposed of. It is simply spread on the ground untreated. The excess nutrients and farm chemicals from manure find their way into waterways, lakes, groundwater, soils and airways. The nitrates and phosphates from erosion and runoff can cause algae blooms killing fish and other aquatic life. Antibiotics and hormones, pesticides, and heavy metals also find their way into the waterways. Antibiotics are used to prevent and treat bacterial infections and as growth promoters. Pesticides are used to control insect infestations and fungal growth. Heavy metals, especially zinc and copper, are added as micronutrients to the animal diet. Factory farms contribute to air pollution from the release of significant quantities of toxic gases, odorous substances, and particulates and bioaerosols that contain a variety of microorganisms including human pathogens. Ammonia released from manure and slurry is a major contributor to acid rain which affects the soil and water putting stress on species diversity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that confined farm animals generate more than 450 million metric tons of manure annually, three times more than that generated by Americans. The corporate world’s answer to feeding the ever growing human population, with an ever growing taste for meat, fish and dairy, is genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The California Certified Organic Farmers (www.ccof.org) have this to say: ―Genetic engineering is a new technology that involves the manipulation of genes. Unlike
6
traditional hybridization techniques that have been used for centuries, genetic engineering allows researchers to break down the species boundaries set up by millions of years of evolution. Never before was it possible to transfer genes from animals to plants or from bacteria to humans. By combining the genes of unrelated species, permanently altering their genetic codes, novel organisms are created that will pass the genetic changes onto their offspring through heredity. There are many unanswered questions about the effects that genetic engineering could have on the health and ecology of our world once released into the environment.‖ There are many different kinds of GMOs. Some are created to resist a pesticide or herbicide used to control the surrounding weeds. Others are created to have a pesticide grow within the plant itself, like other plants found in nature. Some GMOs are created to give plants better yields and make them hardier in varying climates. So far to me, the benefits of GMOs have not made themselves apparent and the disadvantages are numerous and dangerous. As far as feeding the world’s poor, according to numerous reports put out by the UN and other credible organizations, GMOs are no where near the top on lists of solutions. Poor distribution of food, unfair distribution of farmland, local and global politics are among the top causes for people going hungry. The production of commodity foods, like coffee, sugar and chocolate for export on scarce fertile soil, or growing soybeans to feed cattle, mostly for export leave little arable land for the world’s poor to grow food for themselves. There are the Round-Up Ready soy, corn, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets and canola created by Monsanto resistant to Round-Up Ready herbicide. The weeds that are supposed to be killed by Round-Up are becoming increasingly resistant. More herbicide is required to control the weeds every year. Round-Up is made of glyphosate. Research on the substance will turn up findings that are dramatically different. Some say it is completely safe, others say it can cause cancer and birth defects. I would tend to believe the chemical does more harm than good, based on the information I have read. The studies tend to be short term, on animals, not using realistic quantities to get the full impact. The affect of single doses on animals is tested, not an accumulation. Vague results are given rather than reporting the impact on bones and organs. It appears that glyphosate will build up in bone and internal organs of humans over a life time and we do not know what kind of impact that will have. New information shows that the accumulation of this herbicide makes the soil toxic and less arable so that in a few decades nothing will grow in it. Insects have been found to be adversely affected by ingesting the Bt toxin pesticide that has been engineered into plants to kill pests. With Bt cotton, the targeted pests have been reduced while new pests have increased four-fold. Plus targeted pests are becoming Bt resistant. As far as yields are concerned, it depends on where you get the information. Monsanto websites and reports and surveys commissioned by Monsanto all tout improved yields with their products. However, the stories from the farmers are dramatically different and
7
extremely heart wrenching and depressing. I am sure Vandana Shiva will have more to tell you about this. Are GMO foods healthy for humans? Who knows? No ones bothered to do any long term credible testing. There are indications however that foods grown with pesticides and herbicides have less nutrition in them over time as the soil becomes more toxic and mineral deficient. The potential of genetically engineered foods to cause allergic reactions in humans is a big reason for opposition to such crops. There has been no test that offers definitive answers. A Michigan State University researcher has developed the first animal model using mice to test whether genetically engineered foods could cause human allergic reactions. If successful, the testing could be available commercially by 2011. The best known case of a genetically engineered crop potentially causing allergies was StarLink corn. Created by Aventis in 1996, StarLink contained a protein from a common soil bacterium that protected the corn from several types of corn borers and black cutworms. StarLink was approved by the EPA for use in animal feed and nonfood products in 1998. But in 2000, fragments of this protein’s DNA were detected in taco shells and other food products. Many people believed that StarLink was responsible for their asthma attacks and other allergic reactions. The Centers for Disease Control tried to figure out if StarLink was the cause, but the data were inconclusive. In 1999 it was reported that a study by Europe's leading specialists on food sensitivity found health complaints caused by soy - the ingredient most associated with GM foods increased from 10 in 100 patients to 15 in 100 in that year just after it was introduced into the food supply. Mixing genes from different food sources will only increase the risk of additional food allergies. Food allergies are especially common among children, and GMOs could create new allergens. If the gene from a nut or other common allergen were transferred to another food crop, people with an allergy to nuts could unknowingly consume the allergen with potentially severe consequences. Why are we investing so much research devoted to developing crops for rich countries in the northern hemisphere when it is not known how much the modified crops could help the developing world? And meanwhile food shortages and escalating prices lead to scattered riots. Agriculture experts at the UN and in developing countries do not expect GM crops on their own to radically improve yields, but they are not ready to write them off if they can possibly offer resistance to drought and pests. GM crops just add to the unsustainable agricultural practices increasing in popularity around the world. Monocultures are an example. When every plant is the same species, and the land is not rotated among crops, every plant is susceptible to the same predators, the same diseases. Consider the virus that brought on the Irish potato famine or the boll weevil that nearly obliterated the cotton crop in the southern U.S. in the early 20th
8
century. Genetic engineering encourages the use of monocultures which significantly reduce biodiversity. Biodiversity enables the ecosystem to prevent and/or recover from a variety of disasters. Monocultures require more pesticides and herbicides to resist pest and weeds. As the soil becomes toxic and mineral deficient it needs more pesticides and fertilizers until it won’t be able to grow anything. By avoiding monocultures, and increasing biodiversity, disasters can be avoided. Most corn is grown as a monoculture. "The environmental footprint of High-fructose corn syrup is deep and wide," writes Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" and a prominent critic of industrial agriculture. "Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country -a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 parts per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites." Milling and chemically altering corn to form high-fructose corn syrup also is energyintensive. In the U.S., federal subsidies -- and tariffs on imported sugar -- keep prices low, allowing for widespread use of high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener and preservative used in many processed foods. It is made by changing the sugar in cornstarch to fructose — another form of sugar. It extends the shelf life of foods and is sweeter and cheaper than sugar. And as a result has become a popular ingredient in many sodas, fruit-flavored drinks and other processed foods. Increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is linked to the growing obesity problem. What about fish? More than 17 billion aquatic animals are estimated to be killed for consumption in the United States. About 93 million metric tons of fish are consumed annually. There are different techniques for catching aquatic animals but the trawler is probably the worst. The trawler is a vessel that has a large fishing net that is dragged along the sea floor. Fauna and flora (up to 20%) and by-catch (unwanted animals) are caught in the nets along with the desired ones. Shrimp and prawns are frequently caught using these trawlers and 80-90% of what is actually caught can be by-catch. According to different reports 10 to 14 pounds of unwanted marine animals are killed for every pound of shrimp caught. As a result, fish populations, communities and ecosystems are being destroyed. By-catch is often discarded back into the ocean already dead or dying. Many are halfalive and die slow, unnecessary deaths. Trawl nets have been identified as sources of mortality for many species of concern, including endangered animals and cetaceans, such as whales, dolphins and porpoises. Sea turtles, already endangered, have been killed by the thousands in shrimp trawl nets. An estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die as by-catch each year, unable
9
to escape when caught in nets. 100 million sharks and rays are estimated to be caught and discarded each year as well. Longlines are fishing lines up to 40 miles (64 km) in length with thousands of baited hooks. Birds dive for the bait, swallow the hook and drown. About 100,000 albatrosses die annually by diving for the bait on the lines along with 20,000 sea turtles. And as I’ve said earlier, everything is connected, but not always in a good way. Global warming is causing extreme weather conditions. We are seeing more hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts and tsunamis. Experts believe that coral reefs and mangrove trees protect against the potential destruction of tsunamis. The great tsunami of 2004 was one of the worst disasters in history. Over the last two or three decades, mangroves have been cleared for shrimp or prawn farms and coastlines destroyed with the building of large resorts. Could this tsunami have been prevented, had we focused on reducing global warming sooner? Would the destruction have been less severe had we not destroyed the natural protective barriers? Nearly half the fish consumed as food worldwide are raised on fish farms rather than caught in the wild. It is the fastest-growing food group, and global demand has doubled since 1975. From the outside it may look like the world’s answer to the decline of the fish populations in the ocean. Unfortunately this is not the case. Lots of small fish, from the sea, are used to feed the fish in the farms. To create 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of high-protein fishmeal, which is fed to farmed fish (along with fish oil, which also comes from other fish), it takes 4.5 kg (10 lbs.) of smaller pelagic, or open-ocean, fish. The aquaculture industry could end up depleting an essential food source for many other species in the marine food chain. Farmed fish accumulate PCBs from the fishmeal they are fed. It takes about 20 kg (44 lbs.) of live fish, such as anchovies, sardines and mackerel to get 1 kg of ranched tuna. Here wild tuna are corralled and fed in a pen until harvested. Salmon farms don’t protect wild salmon either. Instead, they infect wild fish with parasites and diseases, and compete for precious habitat when farmed fish escape their pens. Wild salmon get their pink color from the prey they eat. Farmed cousins rely on canthaxanthins, a dye to color their flesh pink. Without that added pigment, their meat would be a pale gray. High intake of canthaxanthins produces an accumulation of pigments in the retina, affecting the human eyesight. A staggering 37% of all global seafood is now ground into feed, up from 7.7% in 1948. One third of that feed goes to China, where 70% of the world's fish farming takes place; China now devotes nearly 1 million hectares (about 4,000 sq. mi.) of land to shrimp farms. And about 45% of the global production of fishmeal and fish oil goes to the world's livestock industry, mostly pigs and poultry. Demand for fish oil is projected to outstrip supply in the next ten years and in forty years for fishmeal. There are other collateral problems created by industrial scale aquaculture: the destruction of coastal habitats through waste disposal, the introduction of diseases and the possible escape of exotic species that can threaten indigenous breeds.
10
We are living in a global world. This has some great advantages, like the opportunity to attend a conference such as this one. We have the ability to experience a wide variety of food from all over the globe at any time of the year. At the same time there are costs. Much of the food we purchase travels thousands of miles before we eat it. The taste and the nutritional value of the food diminish with travel and storage time. There may be dangers too of eating food that is not in season. Preservatives and artificial ingredients are frequently added to food to preserve the freshness and have been linked to many health disorders. Contamination during the journey can result in food borne illnesses. The social and environmental costs of our long distance food system are great and not included in the price when we buy our food. Average supermarket contains around 30,000 items, about half of which are produced by 10 multinational companies. Food that is not locally grown requires more packaging, refrigeration and fuel and generates huge amounts of waste and pollution. Farmers sell their produce into a remote and complex where they are often paid very little. In the developing world cash crops are often grown for export and the farmers have little to feed themselves and their families. Jack LaLanne is a 94 year old American fitness, exercise and nutritional expert, celebrity, lecturer, and motivational speaker who has been referred to as "the godfather of fitness." His is famous for saying, way ahead of his time, ―If man made it, don’t eat it‖. Process foods contain so many chemicals that accumulate in our bodies and can result in a variety of illnesses. In addition to the food we eat, Chemicals can get into our bodies from so many of the products we used. Mother Jones magazine offered a comprehensive list of chemicals found in our bodies and where they originate from: Alkylphenols – These are emulsifiers or thickeners that are added to pesticides and solvents and they are known for disrupting hormone balance. When fish were exposed to these substances, sex changes resulted; in mice the male genitals were affected as well as the quality of sperm. You can find alkyl phenols in cleaners, cosmetics, paint, textiles, leather, apples, butter, and sports shoes. Bisphenol A is an ingredient found in certain plastics and cans as well as the solvent in printing ink used for paper and cardboard. It is also found in nail polish, CDs, car tires, baby bottles and soft drink bottles. While protects against mold it can severely disrupt the hormone and immune systems and has been linked to brain deformities and behavioral problems. Bromides are found in flame retardants and are used to prevent products from quickly catching fire. They can have a disruptive effect on hormones and reproduction and is suspected of harming the brain development of unborn children. They are found in products such as food, plastics electronics, vacuum cleaners, furniture, car seat covers and textiles. Many mattresses contain polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) which have accumulated in alarmingly high levels in blood and breast milk and may harm development of fetuses and breastfeeding infants.
11
Organotin compounds protect items from damage by mold, heat, air, moths. They can affect the immune system and development and disrupt the hormonal system. These compounds have been linked to infertility, learning and behavioral problems and increased aggression. They are found in products such as plastic, t-shirts, sport shoes, beach balls, and diapers. DDT, an organotin compound that we have all heard about, has been banned. Phthalates soften plastic to make it supple and bendable. They can lead to liver and kidney damage and are possibly carcinogenic. They can disrupt hormone system, affect reproduction and have been associated with asthma, eczema and early puberty among girls. They are found in products such as shower curtains, toys, carpeting, vinyl wallpaper, autos, rain gear, electric cables, cosmetics, perfume, paint, ink. In 2004 the European Union banned the use of several notorious phthalates in toys and children’s products. Synthetic musks replace natural aromas. They can disrupt the hormone system and affect reproduction and some musks can be carcinogenic. They are found in products such as soap, cleaning products, cosmetics. Most lipsticks contain petroleum derivatives. Recently, lipsticks tested by a US consumer rights group found that more than half contained lead and some popular brands including Cover Girl, L’Oreal and Christian Dior had more lead than others. Tests on 33 brand-name red lipsticks found that 61% had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). In the US, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick, but onethird of the lipsticks tested contained an amount of lead that exceeded the US Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy. Some will downplay the danger in lipstick, saying women don’t eat lipstick like children eat candy. I think it best to be on the safe side and use brands based on plant oils or Vitamin E instead of the conventional brands.
Food, if not organic have pesticide and herbicides residues. Of the tens of thousands used worldwide, only a few hundred have been tested for their effects on human health. It is generally believed that the doses are usually too low to be harmful to people, but scientists have linked pesticides to cancer, brain damage, kidney ailments, skin problems, asthma, hair loss, weight loss, attention deficit disorder, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, low sperm counts, on and on. It’s hard to prove a causal link between a common product and a common ailment. We take in chemicals from the air. The US Environmental Protection Agency reported that even in the most polluted cities the air inside our homes, offices and schools is less healthy than the air outdoors. Harmful chemicals in the home leak from computers, printers, furniture, curtains, carpeting and many other products. Dust in our homes has been linked to allergies, asthma and eczema among children.
12
Tap water can contain a great many toxins including fluoride, alkylphenols and phthalates. I could go on and on for hours with devastating statistics about the demise of the planet due to our lifestyles, especially our eating habits but I won’t. What I want to do is highlight some of the wonderful things going on around the world to bring the environment back in balance. And I want to talk about some of the things each of us here can do that will make a positive difference. There are so many wonderful, creative things happening around the world for the environment. Here are just a few examples. In 2003, in Seoul, South Korea a highway was bulldozed to build a park. It was completed in 2 years, replacing with it bridges, walkways, public art, running tracks, waterfalls and a museum and the traffic problem there has improved as a result! There is a new technology that generates power from salt water which could ultimately supply 25% of the Netherlands’s electricity using membrane filters where rivers flow into oceans with using reverse electro dialysis. The Power of trees: In Niger, farming has resumed again south of the Sahara Desert for the first time since the drought of the 1980’s thanks to acacia trees farmers are planting. The trees set off a positive cycle of ecological renewal. The leaves and fruits feed cattle; the cattle produce fertilizer, which makes better soil. The trees prevent erosion and provide shade so crops don’t dry out. The yields of some crops are up 85 % higher. 250,000 hectares or 620,000 acres have become fertile again. The Green Belt Movement provides income and sustenance to millions of people in Kenya through the planting of trees. It also conducts educational campaigns to raise awareness about women's rights, civic empowerment, and the environment throughout Kenya and Africa. Their founder, Wangari Maathai was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She has helped women plant more than 30 million trees on their farms, on schools, and on church compounds. What a phenomenal example to show what individuals can do. Trees for Life International (treesforlife.org) has a very long-term focus. They do not just feed hungry people or even just empower individuals to become more self-sufficient. They work toward shifting the entire paradigm so that people in the future will have more opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty. Their work started in the early 1980s with the planting of fruit trees in India. The emphasis was on creating awareness, training people to plant and take care of trees and providing them with the resources needed to accomplish their tasks. Each recipient made a pledge to help at least two others in the same manner in which they had been helped. There is the Plant-A-Tree-Today (PATT, plant-a-tree.org) Foundation was formed in 2005 with its mission to react to problems caused by the massive and increasing levels of
13
deforestation worldwide, raise awareness of environmental issues and the role forests play, take action against climate change, educate children on these issues and to PLANT MORE TREES. Over 240 million trees have been planted in Israel during the last century. I remember as a child giving money in my name to plant trees in Israel. I felt very proud. I realized at an early age how important trees were and wanted to be a part of making the world a better place. Bhutanese refugees in Nepal have a new way to prepare meals, without firewood, kerosene or the risk of smoke inhalation – the solar cooker. Of all environmental dangers the World Health Organization has identified indoor pollution from cooking as the second most common cause of death worldwide after using contaminated water. 2500 were brought there by the Dutch humanitarian organization, the Netherlands Refugee Organization. The technology provides a cleaner and healthier alternative to using more conventional fuels. Rising fuel prices make cooking with petroleum too expensive. Deforestation rates in Nepal are among the highest in the world and the refugee camp residents would cut down trees for the evening meal. Without the tree roots, monsoon rains wash away fertile soil. Energy: Germany leads the world with FITs (feed-in tariffs). They have democratized energy policy, allowing both ordinary homeowners and corporations to invest directly in renewable energy generation (solar, wind). Germany’s leadership is due to encouraging not only large utility plants but ordinary homeowners as well. Some 46 countries have implanted FITs which are now the most common way to promote renewables. Perhaps wave energy will be the next great renewable resource. Finavera has wave energy projects in Portugal, Canada, the United States and South Africa. Their technology extracts the heavy motion of the sea, captured via an array of buoys, extends and contracts a hose that acts as a pump which forces pressurized water through a turbine to generate electricity. The Air Car is a new project that is researching creating ecological vehicles that run on compressed energy. Organic food accounts for 1–2% of total food sales worldwide and the organic food market is growing rapidly, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations. World organic food sales jumped from US $23 billion in 2002 to $40 billion in 2006. The world organic market has been growing by 20% a year since the early 1990s, with future growth estimates ranging from 10-50% annually depending on the country. The Fair Trade movement is growing. From the globalexchange.org website it says:
14
Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between consumers in North America and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The chief concern of the Fair Trade movement has been to ensure that the vast majority of the world's coffee farmers (who are small holders) get a fair price for their harvests in order to achieve a decent living wage. Fair Trade guarantees to poor farmers organized in cooperatives around the world: a living wage (minimum price of $1.26/pound regardless of the volatile market); much needed credit at fair prices; and long term relationships. These fair payments are invested in health care, education, environmental stewardship, and economic independence. Fair Trade Certified coffee is the first product being introduced in the United States with an independently monitored system to ensure that it was produced under fair labor conditions. More and more people care about the conditions of the people who produce the products they buy. Coffee is the first commodity in the United States for which there is an independent monitor that guarantees that producers were paid a fair wage for their product and work in decent conditions -- a real alternative to sweatshops. Small farmers are the best stewards of the land. When you support Fair Trade, you support the environment. Fair Trade farmers don't have the capital input to clear forests, buy chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They generally grow small plots of mixed-crop, shade grown coffee organically. There is the growth of CSAs. From the localharvest.org website: A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season upfront, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season. A CSA season typically runs from late spring through early fall. The number of CSAs in the United States was estimated at 50 in 1990, and has since grown to over 1000. Participating in CSAs and buying Fair Trade products are two examples of showing the connection we have with each other where we can have the products we enjoy while improving the global economy equitably and being gentle on the planet. You can also choose to reduce your exposure to toxins. In the home buy low emission paints and avoid synthetic chemicals when there is a natural alternative. Cut the use of natural gas in the home and check for leaks which are a common cause to chemical exposure. Store the nastiest chemicals outside. Harsh cleaning products, if used at all, should not be kept near the vegetables. Clean with baking soda! It cleans, removes grease, stains form carpets and neutralizes odors. And
15
it’s very inexpensive. Use a carbon/ceramic filter on your water tap. Wash your curtains often, or replace them with blinds which are less likely to be treated with flame retardants Don’t use particle board, the glue contains formaldehyde and will find its way to your indoor environment. Don’t use bleach with ammonia, when mixed together they create a noxious, debilitating gas called chloramines. Take your shoes off at home or buy a doormat to not tread chemicals all over the house. In the bedroom, use organically grown cotton bed sheets. Mattresses are best made from organic cotton, without flame retardants. In the bathroom, clean out your bathroom cabinet and dump everything but the essentials and try replacing with non toxic alternatives. Baking soda works great here too, in the tub and toilet. Keep your personal products simple. Avoid chemically based shampoos and don’t shampoo so often. Avoid bubble baths which contain skin irritating ingredients – babies just need warm water. Splash your face with witch hazel or cold water instead of overthe-counter toners. Lemon juice is great for shiny hair, removing blackheads and softening hard skin. READ THE LABELS, not only for your food but your toiletries as well. Buy personal products that have natural, organic certified ingredients, avoid parabens. Women should switch to organic tampons and sanitary napkins made of pure GM free cotton, without chlorine bleach. Conventional tampons contain dioxin. Avoid nail polish, if not protect cuticles with cold pressed nut oil. The nail is porous and can absorb chemicals like toluene, acetone and formaldehyde. Aloe vera gel is a good alternative to shaving foams. Outdoors, for the lawn and garden, use natural alternatives to pesticides. Wear a mask when dealing with chemicals or cutting wood to reduce dust and fumes that can get into your lungs. When swimming, ozone pools are best, if using a chlorine pool shower before (keeps pool cleaner) and thoroughly after. For those who smoke, don’t smoke indoors where smoke particles stay lodged on furniture and soft items like carpets and pillows. Eat organic food which is the single best way to avoid exposure to pesticides. Organic food is generally higher in nutrients and tastes better than conventional food. Eat as much seasonal produce as you can – reduces exposure to antifungal and antibacterial chemicals used to extend life of fruits and vegetables. When organic isn’t available choose foods with lower levels of pesticides: eggplant, peppers, cabbage, frozen peas, garlic, leeks, radishes, sweet corn, and turnips. High levels found in apples, spinach and celery. Wash fruits and veggies with running water. Peel fruits and veggies – discard outer leaves of leafy vegetables. Vary your diet and buy food from different sources. Avoid foods with additives, artificial sweeteners, colorings. READ the labels!
16
Use less plastic wrap, plasticizers can leach into food, avoid high fat foods like cheese in plastic wrap and don’t microwave in it. In general we need to tighten organic certification standards to promote the health of people, animals and the environment even further. We need more information on labels to know where food comes from and how it is made. Fair trade policies need to be implemented, organic production should go hand in hand with good conditions for workers and growers. Realistic energy prices should be charged. Coffee or tea or other commodity foods shipped from exotic locales should be a sustainable process, energy prices should reflect the true cost of shipping. In order for things to change, each of us has to do our part. We have to continually try to do our best and not compare ourselves with other people or compare our countries with other countries. We are all connected and we all have to contribute to making the world a better place. Clearly when it comes to food and the goods we buy, we need to support organic, locally grown and fair trade products whenever possible. Our voices will be heard through our purchases. And we need to find more ways to encourage people to eat a plant-based diet, in a loving, joyful way.
17